I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to support structures, and more particularly to a support or stand for a camper or coach body.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Camper or coach bodies (hereinafter "campers") are popular outdoor recreational devices which provide mobile, compact living and cargo space. Campers are conventionally detachably carried upon the bed of a conveying vehicle. Detachment of the camper from the vehicle allows the vehicle to be employed for other purposes. Typically, lifting equipment such as a plurality of jacks is employed to remove the camper from the vehicle and deposit it, either temporarily or for storage, at a desired location, and permit the vehicle to be used for those other purposes. For example, the users may desire to establish the camper as a temporary residence at a campsite, so that some of the users may remain at the campsite, while others operate the vehicle independently of the camper.
A wide variety of fixed, detachable or separate jacks, with or without mechanical or hydraulic assists, have been employed to support the camper while disengaged from the conveying vehicle. However, this conventional use of lifting jacks for support purposes has been subject to several drawbacks. The typical separate jacks are usually sufficiently strong to lift the camper, but are occasionally subject to slippage or malfunction, and so cannot be considered completely reliable or safe to support the camper above the ground for an extended time. Of course, such support is necessary to rusting or dry rot of the camper bottom, on account of contact with the ground. The conventional use of the typical jacks is also likely to cause some buckling of the sides of the camper at the points where the camper rests on the jacks. These drawbacks are particularly acute when the weight of one or more individuals is added to the weight of the camper, when the camper is used as a temporary residence.
One attempt at a solution to these drawbacks has been to rest the camper on a plurality of relatively small props, such as posts, milk crates or cinder blocks. This attempt has its own drawbacks, however. The blocks must be individually positioned beneath the camper bottom while the camper is supported by conventional jacks. This entails some risk to the user, in case one or more jacks would give away, and alignment of the individual blocks is inconvenient at best. Additionally, a camper supported only by separate blocks often lacks stability against winds or movement of individuals inside the camper.
Another attempt at a solution to these drawbacks is the permanent affixment of pivotable jacks to the camper sides. Such affixment often disadvantageously entails perforation of the camper sidewalls. If the jacks are not positioned carefully, particularly if they are not affixed to framing members within the camper, such affixment will not solve the problem of buckling. Indeed, jacks bolted to only the exterior sidewall of the camper can tear away from the sidewall, with disastrous results. While hydraulically or mechanically assisted jacks can be constructed to meet these problems, they are costly.